The Other Boxing Story

August 27, 2017

As the whole world weighs in on what they think they saw last night in Las Vegas, I will turn my attention to something better. Miguel Cotto (41-5, 33 KOs) is now the new WBO Jr. Middleweight Champion of the world. In old Cotto fashion, Miguel beat Yoshihiro Kamegai (27-4, 24 KOs) to a bloody pulp, unanimously dominating every round on my card, to show that “he’s still got it!” Cotto, now a 6-time world champion in 4 divisions, continues to add to his stellar resume and his first-ballot Hall of Fame career. Miguel does not plan to waiver from his recent plan to fight just one more time in late December and then “hang ’em up” permanently. It’s unfortunate, simply because the man has so much left in the tank. There are a lot of great fights for him out there: Erislandy Lara, Manny Pacquiao (again), Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (again), James Kirkland, Hassan N’ Dam, and Billy Joe Saunders just to name a few. Any of those fights would be amazing.

When asked what he will do next, Cotto defaulted to his Hall of Fame trainer, Freddie Roach. Roach commented that they would be looking for the best possible fight that could be made for Miguel’s swan song. He then eluded to the fact that the winner of next month’s megafight between Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez may be an option. Hang on now, Cowboy! Cotto fought a vigilant fight against Alvarez 21 months ago but to no avail. In my opinion, Miguel did everything right that night, landing beautiful body shots and connecting very accurate punches, as he did last night. The problem that night wasn’t that Alvarez was better or that Cotto didn’t do his job. The problem was a matter of physics. 158-pound (give or take) Cotto just couldn’t affect 173-pound (give or take) Alvarez with those shots. Alvarez’s extra weight just continued to absorb those amazing Cotto body punches. It was just a matter of weight, force, and power. So, why go down that road again? I’m not saying Miguel couldn’t win that battle this time out or a match-up with GGG for that matter, but it just doesn’t seem to be the right risk to take at the twilight of his career.

Hats off to you Miguel. Thank you for – yet again – another great performance, filled with action from bell to bell in true Cotto-esque style. You are truly one of the greats, and – as some readers already know – my #1 favorite active fighter today. We all look forward to your decision of who will be your next victim – er, opponent – and the impending fight shortly afterwards. And, if you’re reading this, Miguel, please call in my credentials for that fight (Barclay’s perhaps?) so I can be right there with you, ringside, to witness it.

-Mike Feinberg

TFN Reporter